ENGLISH cricket has found itself slap bang in the middle of a dispute that could leave it either financially or morally bankrupt.

ENGLISH cricket has found itself slap bang in the middle of a dispute that could leave it either financially or morally bankrupt.

The way the England and Wales Cricket Board has been so completely let down sums up a government which loves to associate itself with sport - but is rarely prepared to get its hands dirty to help it.

England don't want to tour Zimbabwe, in protest at the regime of President Robert Mugabe - also president of the country's cricket union, the ZCU.

The world governing body, the International Cricket Council, afraid of the backlash, wants England to tour, insisting political issues must not be allowed to interfere with the sport.

Our government has more or less told England not to go - but, crucially, without saying so in as many words. And the ICC is threatening to impose fines that will effectively bankrupt the game in this country if England don't show up without Downing Street's express support.

One piece of paper with Tony Blair's autograph on it would be enough to end this sorry fiasco. But, having stuck their noses in, the government that was elected with the promise of an "ethical foreign policy" doesn't have the bottle to back it up with actions.

As if all that isn't enough, Zimbabwean cricket is busy tearing itself apart over an entirely political issue.

The country's leading white cricketers are in dispute with the ZCU, who announced Heath Streak had "re-signed" as team captain - without mentioning it to him first.

Now the 15 contracted players who boycotted a training camp in protest have all been sacked and a team of teenagers and promising black players are trying - and failing - to fill the gap.

The farcical situation reached epic proportions when Sri Lanka slaughtered Zimbabwe by an innings and 254 runs in one of the most one-sided Test matches ever seen. It completed a 2-0 victory for the tourists from the twomatch series - on top of a 5-0 whitewash in the one-day series.

Next up is Australia - the best side in world cricket - and the cast-iron certainty of another humiliating thrashing.

Things have got so embarrassing that the ICC has actually got off its collective backside. They could still get England out of this mess, but it should never have got this far.

"Suspension is not on the radar," ICC president Ehsan Mani insisted.

But he also said: "If the dispute affects the quality of a side then it becomes a matter of the ICC."

So let's get this straight. If a ruthless despot is killing thou-sands of his own people, the ICC will sit back and let him get on with it. But if one of its sides is fielding a weakened side, well, that's a case for immediate international intervention.

Cricket seems to have conveniently forgotten the role it, and other sports, played in ending apartheid in South Africa, showing it can be used for good.

Sport and politics generally do not mix. But that's not to say sportsmen should be expected to hand their morals in when they get their caps.

As things stand, England touring Zimbabwe this autumn would be as pointless as it would be wrong.

It's about time somebody in authority should show the courage to acknowledge that.